Pandora Quest 17AM in the PM!7yrs1r7nKA11/20/15(Fri)22:11:06No.43748017

You are the head researcher at a government facility. Your sole responsibility is to teach the world's first autonomous AI, nicknamed Pandora, about life, the world and her existence.Previously you spent a day in the gym with Pandora and Babsy, witnessing Pandora winning a race and getting completely destroyed by her at tennis. Later you agreed to give her better physical capabilities, but limited to what you deem her ready for. Afterward, Babsy invited you to dinner, only to ask to have it in your room. Welcome back to Pandora Quest!>Previous threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?searchall=pandora+quest>Twitter: https://twitter.com/AM_in_PM

You stare at the message from Babsy for a good solid few minutes before realizing you have to actually respond. You look around your modest room, realizing it screams "bachelor" with how messy and disorganized it is. Clothes and paperwork strewn about, the carpet, though not exactly fancy, is in dire need of vacuuming and it could certainly do with some air freshening. In short, it's a sty.>Agree to dinner in your place, then frantically clean and ready yourself>Agree, but forego the cleaning of the room>Disagree, you don't need any more embarrassment today

You quickly get to work, shoving things under other things, pushing things behind things and doing your best to make it all look presentable. You get everything squared well enough after a quick once-over with a small vacuum you have, though you hope to god she doesn't try to open your closet. It won't pass any military inspections, but it'll do.

Moments later you get a knock at the door. After a silent panic attack and a good, hard inward scream, you answer to be met by Babsy wearing a white blouse and jeans. You cannot help but be shocked whenever you see her out of the frumpy, dirty jumpsuit she usually wears when working. In her four hands are two trays full of food from the cafeteria, nothing impressive, but the best you'll get at the Facility.

"Delivery." Babsy says with a smile as you show her in. "Huh, your room is a lot cleaner than mine. All of us in R&D are kinda slobs when it comes to that kind of thing." You quietly kick yourself and laugh it off.

She sets the food down and takes a seat at your desk, you on your bed, the only real sitting areas you have. You thank her for the food and get as comfortable as you can with how nervous you are. What should you talk about?>The upgrade request you made>Today's "athletics">The new AI's progress>Other (write in)

"So, I never really picked you for the sporty type." you say "Most of us in our lines of work are more..."

"Athletically challenged?" she laughs. You can't help but feel embarrassed by this given your stellar performance earlier. "I wasn't always, but after getting my augments it's recommended that once you've recovered you try to be active to ensure everything works correctly. Turns out I really enjoyed it and haven't stopped since. Though working here doesn't give me ample time to do so. Not to mention the security team practically owns the gym, and they're not the most enjoyable group to be around, especially if you're a woman." You detect a sour tinge of venom in her voice at the last bit.

"Yeah," you agree "they're not exactly the most agreeable type, but thankfully they mostly keep to themselves. I haven't really had too many interactions with them outside of procedure. But at least today was fun. Pandora seems to really enjoy it, so I figure I'll take her there more often, provided my body holds out." Babsy laughs at this, dragging out a blush from your cheeks.

"I'd gladly give you some pointers if you're interested." Babsy offers "Could be nice having you there, it's interesting to see how everyone walks on eggshells around you here, even those that don't work under you."

"I-I'd like that!" you respond, a little too enthusiastically.

"Good, next time I've got some free time, I'll send you a message." Babsy says before taking a bite of some form of stew or very poorly made soup.

"How's the new AI been lately?" You ask after venturing a bite of your own. It needs flavor. "Been behaving itself?"

Babsy sighs. "It's been...well, we pretty much just leave it be for the most part. Occasionally I'll try communicating with it, greeting it and asking it questions, but it's the same thing day in and day out. 'Rectify' this and that, no opinions on anything, just sheer 'living in the now'."

You nod, another spoonful of nothing soup in your mouth. "Mm...maybe it'll change once we give it it's trial body? Once it has something to really...base it's life on, I suppose. You have to admit, it does have kind of a dreary existence. I'm not sure I could form a whole lot of opinions were I in that situation."

"True," Babsy nods, a thoughtful look on her face "but even then, it just seems to have no real...drive. No spark of life. Like it's missing...well, for lack of a better term, part of it's soul or something. It's more like an animal than a humanoid like Pandora is. Purely base instincts." She seems concerned.

You think on this for a moment. You really hope you're doing the right thing by giving it a body. But it should be harmless enough. If not, you can always just sic Mouse on it. "Well, I'll do my best to make sure it's given all the chances any other intelligent being has. Maybe Pandora can even give some insight to what it's thinking. It's certainly closer to her than we are, anyway."

"I suppose so." the look on Babsy's face hasn't really softened any. "I just hope we don't end up having to destroy it. We could learn a lot from it, and it us. Ugh, this whole thing makes my head hurt." She places all four of her hands on her face, rubbing her forehead.Maybe it's time to change the subject.>Talk about the upgrade request>Ask for advice on what else might be good for Pandora>Ask about what it's like to work in R&D>Other (write in)

"Well..." you do your best to think of something else to discuss "so I guess you saw about the request for Pandora's new upgrades. I really think she might be ready for more, but I'm not really sure what would be good for her. I know I shouldn't spoil her with new hardware and software all the time, but I feel like she's mature enough to understand the difference between mechanical upgrades and personal growth. At least, mostly, anyway."

"Mm..." Babsy rests her chin on her human hands "I'm not really sure about that. There could be problems with this in the future. Still, I can understand what you mean by this. And asking her about what she'd like isn't necessarily the best course of action. She has a lot to learn. For now, I think you should focus on finding out what she wants to work towards, what her dreams and aspirations are. Like it or not, you are essentially her father. You have to make sure you both encourage her and guide her in her life, which is a daunting task to be sure, but I have faith that you'll do just fine. Every parent has to figure out what's best for their child on their own." You're a bit taken aback by this. You never really thought about it like that, but she's right. For all intents and purposes, Pandora is basically your daughter in some form or another. You created her and are raising her, though the circumstances are a little abnormal. "Give it time, doctor. You don't need to rush into anything. And don't be afraid to tell her 'no' if need be. Children, even mechanical ones, need ground rules and discipline." All your degrees and this woman is still teaching you things you know nothing about.

"Now that I think about it, how did you know about that upgrade?" you ask as it dawns on you "You didn't have a PDA or anything on you when I sent the message."

"Don't need one." Babsy says, tapping her head with a mechanical hand "I'm basically my own PDA. All of us in R&D have WDT (Wireless Data Transfer) implants."

Babsy picks up your PDA, idly turning it over and over. "We're essentially always connected. Imagine having a chat room inside your head. We send and receive messages, transfer data, schematics and so on. Thankfully we're able to 'log out' when need be, otherwise it would get...difficult."

"I take it R&D isn't always sunshine and rainbows?" you ask, knowingly.

"The Bobs are almost always fighting about something, Snowglobe is impossible to read in any way and never really gives much input beyond technical readouts and Mouse is...well, Mouse. If it's not the incessant joking and rudeness, it's embarrassing nicknames and obnoxious comments."

"I still don't know what BAPC stands for." you venture, hoping maybe she'll be a little more willing to discuss it.

"Ugh...this doesn't leave this room, understand?" Babsy looks you in the eye seriously.

"Scouts honor." You hold up two fingers in a mock salute.

"It's..." Babsy looks away, unable to make eye contact. "It stands for Brown-Arsed Pommy Cunt..." You can see a flush spread across her face.

You do your damnedest not to laugh at this. "That's...terrible." It doesn't work and a slight snort escapes your lips.

"You're being cheeky now, but you should hear the names she's come up with for you." Babsy gets a wry smile at this. You're not sure you want to know. "She's taken a liking to what she refers to as 'shipping' various people in the Facility, and seems to enjoy putting the two of us in some kind of imaginary relationship. Saying you've been 'trying to get a piece' and so forth. Very childish. I often wonder about her real age."Oh.>Well, maybe I am interested?>Mouse is crazy!>Other (write in)

You can't believe a grown man in a secret government lab has to summon up courage to do something this trivial, but here you are. "Well, maybe I am interested?" You fight the urge to make claims of rouge androids in the air ducts or something for an excuse to run, but the thought is there.

"Haha..." Babsy laughs for a second, then realizes you weren't kidding. "I...oh...I mean...oh..." She plays with her fingers for a moment, averting your gaze. "I don't know what to say. I'm flattered, I suppose."

Babsy thinks for a moment, a mix of emotions flashing across her face like the color of Pandora's hair when excited. "...Alright. Then...ah...I...need to go...think about this..." Your eyes trail down to the floor as you can feel your very essence droop...until you feel a warm hand on one cheek and the softest lips in the wold plant a kiss on the other. You look up to meet Babsy's heart-melting eyes staring back at you. "And you think about what to do on our first date." She smiles before hurrying out of the room, giving you a final wave before closing the door.

>>43750552Did that just happen? You think it did. Did it? You're sure it did. It must have...you silently reprimand yourself for having the same inner argument with yourself you did last night. You have work to do, quit being defeated by something as simple as a kiss on the cheek, you tell yourself. Even if it was incredible...

A long shower and misplacing your tie later and you are standing outside Pandora's room, Kevin and his binder stuffed full of teaching material with you. After standard pleasantries, you both enter, the little android sitting at the table folding origami, a lop-sided swan and some kind of cat sit next to a pile of torn and crumpled folding paper. She looks up at you and hurries over with one of the origami in hand, hugging you tight, her hair flashing a light pink.

"Morning, doctor!" she says cheerfully, holding up the origami creature. "It's a pig!"

You return the hug and ruffle her hair. "Good job! It looks great!" A sideways glance at Kevin gets him to agree with you, praising the strange cat-pig. "You ready for your lessons with Kevin today?"

She gives him what she thinks is a sneaky scowl, but ends up being rather obvious. "'Kay.">Start the lesson right away>Talk (write in)>Check her journal>Other (write in)

You ask Pandora to wait there for a second while Kevin sets up and you check her journal. She nods and gets back to her folding, a rather cute look of determination on her face as she tries to get whatever it is she's making down just right.

You head into her "bedroom" and check her dream journal, flipping through until you reach today's entry and are confused at what you see. One simple sentence that shouldn't actually be possible.

No dreams last night.

She should have some form of dream, even if a minor one. That's what the software does. Maybe it's broken? You really wonder if there's not a bigger issue at the root of all these recent bugs you've been encountering. Though she is a complex AI, you feel rather blessed that this is all you've had to deal with. But that doesn't really comfort you that much...

Still, you have a lesson to focus on, you can't dwell on this. You make your way out to the main room and take a seat next to Pandora, who finishes some kind of frog, you think. She hands it to you.

"It's an owl!" Pandora says proudly, her hair shifting to a bright yellow.

"It sure is!" you respond, placing it into your breast pocket. "I can't wait to see what you make next!" She is rather excited by this statement. Kevin, however, taps his watch.

You decide to go over sentence structure and grammar today, working on writing out some sentences from a kids book of stories. She seems to enjoy the stories and actually has a good time. It seems like Kevin actually took your advice and actually made it fun for her, even if a bit simplistic. You're surprised, to be honest. You even see him quizzing Pandora on a few words she might like, like breeds of dog, cars in the racing game she plays and even some names of her favorite songs. He did his homework indeed. Pandora seems to be warming up to him, as well, which is always a good thing.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to end it here for tonight, as I have some important work to do, but thank you all so much for playing and if you liked it, please vote for it on the archive and follow me on Twitter! I'll try to answer any questions you might have, but sorry if I'm a little slow!